Nanofibers may be collected as non-woven nanofiber mats, which are useful in various applications, including sensing, filtration and the like. Typical nanofiber mats are constructed of carbon based nanofibers, which optionally comprise amorphous metal oxides. These carbon-based nanofiber mats are most often built on polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl acetate or polyacrylonitrile backbones.
There is a need for improved nanofibers and nanofiber mats comprising a relatively high surface to volume ratio (and thus a large number of potential active sites) along with a relatively high thermal stability.